1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the management of digital rights between untrusting parties and, more particularly, to techniques that utilize a trusted party to resolve disputes between the untrusting parties, at least on a temporary basis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Licensing of electronic (i.e., digital) content, particularly software programs, has traditionally relied on certain “trust” or “rights” models wherein a content provider (or licensor) has certain ownership rights to electronic content such as, for example, software, music, video, images, or other useful electronic information. The user (e.g., a licensee) is a party interested in acquiring the electronic content from the content provider on a temporary or permanent basis. As part of the exchange, the content provider will typically require that the user agree to, and abide by, the terms of a license agreement which sets forth the user's rights and restrictions for using the electronic content.
The content provider presumes the user to be honest, trustworthy, and willing to abide by the terms of the license. The user, likewise, presumes the content provider to be honest, trustworthy, and also willing to abide by the terms of the license. In reality, however, the content provider and end user do not trust each other. The content provider is concerned that the user will disregard the terms of the license and, for example, distribute copies of the electronic content illegally. For example, if the electronic content is software, music, or a movie, the user may create copies and distribute them to friends. The user is concerned that the content provider may inappropriately terminate the use of the electronic content even though the terms of the license have not been violated. There are other conditions that may cause concern to the user and content provider. For example, the content provider may require acceptance of a software license which dictates that the software is to be installed and used on a single computer, or that the software be used until a predetermined license expiration date (e.g., one year), at which time the license may be renewed.
While both parties have legitimate reasons for the lack of trust, it can be difficult to enforce and/or monitor violations of the license. It is also difficult for the software provider to determine if copies of the electronic content have been distributed to other users, in part, because such copying and distribution occurs in the privacy of the user's home. Illegal distribution of the electronic content can result in a reduction in sales and revenue for the content provider. At the same time, the user cannot be assured that the content provider has a legitimate reason for terminating its access to the content. If the user's business is dependent on the content, wrongful termination by the content provider can also result in significant revenue losses for the user.
Under normal circumstances, the user and content provider have limited recourses for addressing violations of the license agreement. The content provider can include monitoring software to detect actions that may be in violation of the license agreement. If the monitoring software detects such an action, then the content can be immediately disabled or otherwise locked to prevent further violations.
One technique that has been developed to address some of these problems includes implementation of a “trust” or “rights” management system on the computer for purposes of monitoring the manner in which the content is used. These rights management systems may take a wide variety of forms, as discussed in co-pending application Ser. No. 10/740,391 filed Dec. 18, 2003 entitled “Rights Management System” and having common ownership. For example, rights management systems can be implemented using software components included with the licensed content, or hardware directed by the software, in order to police use of the content for compliance with the license terms. Once a violation is detected (e.g., a user attempts to use the software after the license expiration date), the rights management systems act to disable or terminate use of the content (e.g., software), oftentimes shutting down or restarting the entire computer system.
While conventional rights management systems have proven effective in preventing unauthorized use of software, they can result in detrimental loss of data in many situations. For example, upon expiration of a license term, a conventional rights management system may restart or shut down a computer system causing any unsaved data to be lost. While losing data associated with a music player or computer game may be annoying, it does little overall harm to the user. In contrast, the expiry and termination of an operating system may cause serious data loss when the system is terminated. As a result, the usefulness of these conventional rights management systems may be outweighed by the damage caused during their utilization.
When a user's electronic content is disabled, there is generally not much to be done. The user has an option of accepting the content provider's actions and foregoing use of the content, or possibly obtaining competing/similar content from a different provider for an additional cost. There are situations, however, when this option is not possible. For example, the content at issue could be a sophisticated software package custom-tailored for the user and costing thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars. In such situations, the user stands to lose significant amounts of money from both the software loss and the business downtime.
Typically, the only recourse available in such situations is to use the legal system to present facts and obtain a judgment or remedy. However, this can be extremely time consuming due to the extensive docketing delays of most courts. Furthermore, the costs associated with obtaining a legal judgment can sometimes outweigh the benefits. Finally, the user stands to lose a continuing amount of money legal proceedings because the business relies heavily on the software for proper operation, and such operation must come to a halt as a result of the software being disabled.